Torso structure for a mechanical pass receiver

ABSTRACT

A torso structure for a simulated football player on a radiocontrolled, motor-driven carriage. The torso structure has pivoted arms. The torso is rotated by a motor and the arms are geared to a common non-rotating pinion gear so that the arms rotate in opposite directions responsive to the rotation of the torso.

United States Patent 1151 3,692,309

Mehrens, deceased 1 Sept. 19, 1972 [54] TORSO STRUCTURE FOR A [56]References Cited MECHANI AL PA [72] I L E UNITED STATES PATENTS nventor:ll fey e lenS,

1,812,930 7/1931 Chester ..46/l43 late 0f Rmnberg Ed'th 3,419,994 111969Glass eta] ..46/ll9 x Marion Mehrens; Ronald Jay Mehrans; Donald RayMehrans; Jackie Fay Mehrans Shuler, independent executors [22] Filed:Sept. 24, 1970 21 Appl. No.: 74,985

Primary ExaminerRichard C. Pinkham Assistant ExaminerTheatrice BrownAttorney-Berman, Davidson and Berman 5 7] ABSTRACT A torso structure fora simulated football player on a radio-controlled, motor-drivencarriage. The torso [52] US. Cl. ..273/55 R, 273/ 105.2 structure haspivoted arms. The torso is rotated by a [51] Int. Cl. ..A63b 67/00 motorand the arms are geared to a common non- [58] Field of Search ..46/l42,143, 148, 163, 1 19; rotating pinion gear so that thB arms rotate in pp273 55 1052 directions responsive to the rotation of the torso.

6 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures F V I 225 223 1204 x 22 2/7 i 2/9 5 (I l315.1 if:

TORSO STRUCTURE FOR A MECHANICAL PASS RECEIVER This invention relates tofootball practice devices for improving the accuracy of a footballthrower or passer, and more particularly to an improved torso structurefor a simulated football pass receiver of the type disclosed in myco-pending application, Ser. No. 838,102, filed July 1, 1969, (now U.S.Pat. No. 3,573,867) and entitled Mechanical Pass Receiver.

A main object of the present invention is to provide an improved torsostructure for a simulated football player mounted on a radio-controlled,motor-driven carriage, wherein the movement of the torso portion of thesimulated football players body is controlled by steering action of thecarriage and wherein the arms of the simulated torso rotate in oppositedirections responsive to the rotation of the torso, the improvedstructure involving only a few parts, being easy to install, beingreliable in operation, and being inexpensive to fabricate.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved torsostructure for a simulated football player of the type disclosed in myabove-identified co-pending application, Ser. No. 838,102, the improvedstructure of the present invention involving a minimum amount ofgearing, being arranged so that the parts thereof move smoothly withoutbinding, and being further arranged so that the torso and the armspivoted thereto can move smoothly and in a lifelike manner.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description and claims, and from the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the improved torso structure of the presentinvention with the body covering omitted. I

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken substantially on theline 2-2 of FIG. 1. v

A prime purpose of the present invention is to provide a simplifiedtorso structure for a simulated football player of the type mounted on aradio-controlled, motor-driven carriage, such as is disclosed in mycopending application Ser. No. 838,102, aboveidentified. As is describedin said co-pending application, the simulated body is mounted on acarriage having a driving motor and being steerable in accordance withradio signals received thereby, and the simulated football player has abody consisting of a fixed lower portion secured to the associatedcarriage, and having the hollow top portion 40 to which is swivellyconnected the simulated torso 37. The lower portion of the simulatedfootball player includes the legs fixedly secured to the frame of theassociated carriage, the legs merging in said hollow top portion 40,representing the simulated players hips. Said top portion 40 is providedwith a horizontal top wall 41 and the hollow simulated torso 37 isvertically swiveled to the lower body portion by being rotatablyjoumaled to an upstanding vertical shaft 42 fixedly secured centrally inthe top wall 41 and projecting upwardly into the hollow torso portion37.

In the improved torso structure of the present invention, the shaft 42extends through an aperture provided in the bottom wall 109 of the torso37 and an upstanding ball-bearing assembly 200 is provided to form theswivel connection, the outer race of the assembly 200 being rigidlysecured to bottom wall 109 and the inner race portion being engagedaround the shaft 42. Rigidly secured to the bottom of wall 109,concentrically with shaft 42, is a gear 201, and meshing withthe'relatively large gear 201 is a pinion gear 202 connected to theoutput shaft of the torso-swivelling motor 108, which is secured in theportion 40 of the body beneath the top wall 41 thereof.

The torso covering is shown in dotted view in FIG. 2, whereas theframework of the torso is shown in full line view. Thus, the torsoframework comprises a pair of vertical discs defining plate elementstransversely arranged adjacent the shoulder portions of the simulatedtorso, designated at 204, 205.

The discs 204, 205 are rigidly connected to the generally oval bottomwall 109 by a pair of upwardly and outwardly inclined strut bars 206,207, said bars being provided at their lower end portions with oppositepairs of triangular gusset plates 208, 208. The arm discs 204,205 arefurther rigidly connected by a cross-bar means comprising a pair ofangle bars 209,210 rigidly secured to and extending horizontallyinwardly from the lower portions of the discs 204,205 and connected attheir inner ends by a downwardly offset center angle bar 211. The anglebars 209, 210 are provided at their inner ends with transverse fillerplates 212,213 and the ends of the top flange 2140f the center angle bar211 are rigidly connected, as by welding, to the bottom edges of thefiller plates 212,213.

' Mounted on the inner end portions of the top flanges 215,216 of anglebars 209,210 are respective upstanding bearing blocks 217,218, andrespective arm-supporting shafts 219 and 220 are rotatably supportedcentrally in the discs 204,205 and in the bearing blocks 217,218, saidshafts having respective opposing dif ferential bevel gears 219', 220secured to their inner ends, as is clearly shown in FIG. 2. Rigidlysecured to the outer ends of the shafts 21'9,220 are respectivearmsupporting discs 221,222 to which are rigidly secured the respectivesimulated players arms 223,224.

The central angle bar 211 is provided with an aperture in the centerportion of its top flange 214 through which extends a shaft element 225,shaft element 225 being joumaled in a vertical sleeve 226 rigidlysecured to flange 214 and provided at its upper portion with an interiorbearing bushing 228. Secured to the top end of the shaft 225 is a piniongear 229 which meshes with the opposing bevel gears 219, 220', definingtherewith a differential gear assembly. The lower end of shaft 229 isconnected by a universal joint assembly 230 to the top end of theupstanding shaft element 42.

As will be readily apparent, when the motor 108 is energized to causethe simulated torso 27 to swivel around the axis of the shaft 42, thebevel gears 219' and 220 are forced to rotate in opposite directions,since they mesh with the substantially fixed pinion gear 229, wherebythe simulated arms 223,224 are caused to rotate in opposite directions,to provide the appropriate positioning of a pivoted basket ringconnected to the arms in the manner described in the above-identifiedpending application Ser. No. 838,102.

The provision of universal joint 230 allows sufficient freedom ofmovement of the upper shaft element 225 with respect to the lower shaftelement 42 to prevent binding of the parts during the swiveling actionof the simulated torso 37, and allows for a reasonable degree of flexureof the torso framework during the operation of the simulated passreceiving apparatus.

The operation of the simulated pass receiver is fully described in theabove-identified co-pending application, and the improved torsostructure of the present invention does not in any way change thegeneral operation of the device.

While the specific embodiment of an improvement in torso structure for apractice football pass receiver has been disclosed in the foregoingdescription, it will be understood that various modifications within thespirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Thereforeit is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except asdefined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a practice football pass receiver, a simulated body lower portion,upstanding shaft means nonrotatably secured to said body lower portion,a simulated torso swiveled on said lower portion for rotation aroundsaid upstanding shaft means, said simulated torso having simulated armspivoted to opposite sides thereof, and differential gear means couplingsaid arms to said upstanding shaft means, whereby rotation of saidsimulated torso with respect to said body lower portion causes rotationof said simulated arms in opposite directions, wherein said simulatedtorso includes a frame comprising a bottomwall, upwardly and outwardlyinclined strut bars secured to said bottom wall, transverse verticalplate elements secured to the top ends of said strut bars, and cross-barmeans connecting said transverse vertical plate elements, said simulatedarms being pivoted in said vertical plate elements and said upstandingshaft means extending rotatably through the mid-portion of saidcross-bar means.

2. The practice football pass receiver of claim 1, and a drive motormounted on said simulated body lower portion and gear means couplingsaid drive motor to said simulated torso.

3. The practice football pass receiver of claim 2, and wherein saidlast-named gear means comprises a drive gear on said motor and a drivengear secured to said bottom wall concentrically with said upstandingshaft means and meshing with said drive gear.

4. The practice bootball pass receiver of claim 1, and wherein saidmid-portion is downwardly offset relative to the end portions of saidcross-bar means and is provided with an upstanding bearing sleevesurrounding said upstanding shaft means.

5. The practice football pass receiver of claim 4, and wherein saidsimulated arms are provided with respective inwardly extendinghorizontal shafts, and wherein said differential gear means comprises apinion gear secured on the top end of said upstanding shaft means andrespective bevel gears secured on the inner ends of said horizontalshafts meshing with said pinion gear, said upstanding bearing sleevebeing received between said bevel gears.

6. The practice football pass receiver of claim 5, and wherein saidupstanding shaft means includes a universal joint located subjacent saiddownwardly offset midportion of said cross-bar means.

1. In a practice football pass receiver, a simulated body lower portion,upstanding shaft means non-rotatably secured to said body lower portion,a simulated torso swiveled on said lower portion for rotation aroundsaid upstanding shaft means, said simulated torso having simulated armspivoted to opposite sides thereof, and differential gear means couplingsaid arms to said upstanding shaft means, whereby rotation of saidsimulated torso with respect to said body lower portion causes rotationof said simulated arms in opposite directions, wherein said simulatedtorso includes a frame comprising a bottom wall, upwardly and outwardlyinclined strut bars secured to said bottom wall, transverse verticalplate elements secured to the top ends of said strut bars, and cross-barmeans connecting said transverse vertical plate elements, said simulatedarms being pivoted in said vertical plate elements and said upstandingshaft means extending rotatably through the mid-portion of saidcross-bar means.
 2. The practice football pass receiver of claim 1, anda drive motor mounted on said simulated body lower portion and gearmeans coupling said drive motor to said simulated torso.
 3. The practicefootball pass receiver of claim 2, and wherein said last-named gearmeans comprises a drive gear on said motor and a driven gear secured tosaid bottom wall concentrically with said upstanding shaft means andmeshing with said drive gear.
 4. The practice bootball pass receiver ofclaim 1, and wherein said mid-portion is downwardly offset relative tothe end portions of said cross-bar means and is provided with anupstanding bearing sleeve surrounding said upstanding shaft means. 5.The practice football pass receiver of claim 4, and wherein saidsimulated arms are provided with respective inwardly extendinghorizontal shafts, and wherein said differential gear means comprises apinion gear secured on the top end of said upstanding shaft means andrespective bevel gears secured on the inner ends of said horizontalshafts meshing with said pinion gear, said upstanding bearing sleevebeing received between said bevel gears.
 6. The practice football passreceiver of claim 5, and wherein said upstanding shaft means includes auniversal joint located subjacent said downwardly offset mid-portion ofsaid cross-bar means.